Copyright infringement resulting from the piracy of motion picture films is a widespread problem. Once a film distributor distributes prints of a motion picture film to exhibitors for theatrical exhibition, a certain degree of control over the product is lost. In the regular course of exhibiting the film, a customer in the theater may surreptitiously record the film using, e.g., a hand held camcorder. At a more sophisticated level, a person seeking to obtain an illegal copy of a film print may gain access to a theater projection booth in collusion with an employee of the exhibitor and make a copy of the film after hours in a relatively controlled environment. In such an environment, the audio from the projection equipment can be directly fed to the camcorder. A tripod can be used to ensure a clear and steady picture. As a result, an illicit copy can be made.
To combat such piracy, processes have been developed to help identify such illegal film copies. This technology can be referred to as a film marking system (FMS). The FMS typically provides a series of faint dots in the picture that are added as the film print is manufactured. An example of a film print 400 having FMS markings 410 in frames 420 is depicted in FIG. 4.
Quality assurance processes are sometimes implemented to verify that film prints are properly marked with FMS marking. Such processes typically are performed manually, and involve loading a film print into a film viewing apparatus, looking up the specific frames that are marked, verifying the marks, and unloading the film. This process is very labor intensive, and therefore costly. Thus, only a small percentage of films undergo this FMS mark verification process. Moreover, the use of a manual inspection process introduces greater risk for human error. Accordingly, a system which automates FMS mark verification is needed to improve the accuracy of FMS mark verification and reduce the cost of such verification so that the process can be economically applied to all FMS marked film prints.